Stuff about, you know, puzzles

Monthly Archives: October 2010

The end of our team name is sometimes pronounced wrong. It’s “guh-news”, similar to how the GNU Project is pronounced, not “news”. This has been born out in both the audiobook and TV movie version of Going Postal, from where our name comes. It’s a big deal! Okay, it’s not and I really don’t care […]

For reasons I can’t remember, I decided to revisit the solve times from DASH 2. Since they weren’t in an easy spreadsheet form, I decided to narrow it down to just Palo Alto. I figured sixty teams would be enough of a sample. First, I compared the average solve time vs. the “par” time used […]

I haven’t had a chance to write about our experiences playtesting Shinteki Decathlon 6, but here are some photos I took of the experience. The 2 Tone Game is still on-going, but if either you’ve played the game, read the notes or source code, or don’t care about being spoiled, but I’ve unlocked the album […]

While there may be ten more aspects to what makes a good puzzle hunt puzzle, there was a twelfth that I wanted to add to the list that completely slipped my mind. 12. Activity – Whether there is some physical activity required either to acquire the clue, or whether one is needed to solve the […]

Recently, I’ve been trying to come to grips with what makes a good puzzle hunt puzzle (PHP?). After examining my tastes, and what they do and don’t have in common with other people, I think that writing a definitive guide to what makes a good puzzle is all but impossible. I have, however, come to […]

I’ve been going over Ian’s 2010 GC Summit Talk recently for various reasons. One thing he brought up is the fact that puzzle hunt puzzles have built up a few conventions that while providing quick entry for experienced puzzles, limits both the puzzle writer and newer entries into the field. From his talk: You all […]